According to Nick O’Neil, Facebook is preparing to celebrate the 500 million user mark. The timing roughly coincides with the 3 year anniversary of the Facebook Platform. Facebook is aiming to make a big deal (as they should) in light of recent bad press.

“Before the end of this year, the company should near the 600 million user mark and surpass $1 billion in annualized revenue. While the company still faces some risks from competition, the company will be the sole member of the 500 million user league. To think that the company was at 175 million users just over a year ago makes Facebook’s continued growth a dramatic one.”

Enormous growth coupled with questionable privacy moves have prompted some to leave the network. From Facebook is for losers, “Facebook gives you choices about how to manage your data, but they aren’t fair choices, and while the onus is on the individual to manage these choices, Facebook makes it damn difficult for the average user to understand or manage this.”

No matter how you slice it, Facebook has become a juggernaut and managing that many users while looking for profit is going to upset some. Are these just growing pains for the company or will privacy issues become the users call to arms in mass?